Feuds of the Special One – Jose Mourinho

David BidenJun 8, 2016

Now that Mourinho is safely installed at Old Trafford, following the dismissal of Louis van Gaal he has been described in words once used by the football great Sir Alex Ferguson, as someone who could start a fight even when there was no one there!

Jose Mourinho “The Special One,” is no stranger to dispute and his new job will afford him with plenty of opportunities to continue his feud with the manager of the rivals Manchester City, Pep Guardiola. As Mourinho settles into his role, he is undoubtedly sure to cause a few more issues possibly with old sparing partners including the following:

Tito Vilanova/ Pep Guardiola/ Barcelona

The history between Mourinho and the Catalan giants began in 1996 when he was drafted in from Portugal as the manager Bobby Robson’s translator and assistant, something that the Barca fans delight in reminding him of. On becoming head coach of Real Madrid he was ridiculed with chants of “translator.” Despite Guardiola refusing to rise to Mourinho’s comments, Mourinho took every chance to provoke a reaction. Mourinho did however cross the line in 2011 at the Spanish Super Cup when he got in a scuffle with the assistant manager Vilanova, poking him in the eye.

Arsene Wenger

The long standing feud between Mourinho and Wenger is particularly testy with Mourinho branding him as a “specialist in the art of failure.” The war between these two got to boiling point in the October of 2014 when Wenger shoved Mourinho on the touchline and Mourinho then refusing to shake hands at a following meeting.

Rafa Benitez

The Spaniard Benitez appears to have got into the habit of following Mourinho into jobs having taken over at Chelsea, Real and Inter Madrid following the exit of Mourinho. However, Mourinho continues to trash his successor, making it public that Benitez should be thanking him for the excellent teams he has inherited and boasting that the fans prefer him and he would never win them over and match his success. Monte Seara, the wife of Benitez, made it very clear when speaking to a Spanish newspaper that her husband was tasked with the job of clearing up the mess left by Mourinho. Mourinho, not one to take things lying down, hit back with jibes about how she should busy herself with her husband and stop talking about him.

Manuel Pellegrini

There is no doubt that Pellegrini will certainly be glad to leave Manchester as it means that he will not have to look at his arch rival Mourinho next season. In 2010, Mourinho took over as manager at Bernabeu and made it perfectly clear that Pellegrini was leaving to coach a far inferior squad. The rivalry continued between them both in England when they were both coaching Premier League sides. Mourinho took every opportunity to grate on Pellegrini, with the final straw being in 2015 when Mourinho made a jibe with regards to the financial muscle behind Pellegrini’s team, strange really as his team were being funded by a Russian billionaire.

Eva Carneiro

Mourinho lost his temper in true fashion when the Chelsea first team doctor Carneiro and physiotherapist Jon Fearn, proceeded on to the pitch in the closing minutes of the English Premier League champions game. Calling the two medics naïve and impulsive and suggested that they had no knowledge of the game even though the GMC (General Medical Council) backed their call. On leaving the club after being pushed out by Mourinho, Carneiro is suing the club and Mourinho for alleged discrimination and victimization.

Mario Balotelli

Mourinho and Balotelli have more of a frustrating relationship as opposed to an actual feud. Mourinho finds it increasingly hard to get through to a player that he describes as a wayward Italian striker. Despite many attempts to plead with Balotelli his words appeared to fall on deaf ears!

2105 – 2016 Chelsea First Team

Mourinho told reporters following one of the many defeats during his last season at Chelsea that he felt betrayed as the players had failed to carry out his tactical instructions. Speaking with Sky Sports, Mourinho made it clear that he felt he had a gift of being able to read the game for the players and when they don’t follow instructions they are betraying him. He still suggests that he did an amazing job with the players last season and got them to the optimum playing level and they cannot possibly maintain it without him.